New York, Jan 8, 2026, 07:36 EST — Premarket
Cleveland-Cliffs shares slipped 0.5% to $11.98 in premarket trade on Thursday after KeyBanc cut the U.S. steelmaker to “sector weight”, a neutral rating, from “overweight”. 1
The move matters because Cleveland-Cliffs is tightly tied to the auto supply chain and U.S. sheet steel pricing, and small swings in costs can hit results fast. The Cleveland, Ohio-based company is vertically integrated from iron ore through steelmaking and sells value-added sheet products, especially to automakers. 2
The stock closed at $12.04 on Wednesday, down 9.27%, one of its sharpest one-day drops in months. Wall Street earnings calendars list Feb. 19 as the next results date, though those dates can shift before a company confirms them. 3
KeyBanc analyst Philip Gibbs wrote that the valuation “now better embeds pending non-core asset sales and strategic joint ventures with POSCO,” and he flagged what he called “lag spot pricing and modestly higher costs.” He also cut his fourth-quarter EBITDA — a rough gauge of operating cash profit — to a $22 million loss from a $63 million profit and trimmed his 2026 estimate to $1.33 billion from $1.63 billion. 4
KeyBanc said the stock had moved past its prior $13 target after a rally of more than 47% over the last six months, leaving less upside from catalysts such as liquidity progress and asset sales. The brokerage still expects hot-rolled coil, a key U.S. steel benchmark, to average about $880 a ton in 2026 and said it sees a more profitable year ahead for the broader U.S. carbon steel sector; it raised targets on Steel Dynamics and Reliance while calling out Commercial Metals as a rebar beneficiary. 5
Traders will be looking for whether the premarket dip turns into follow-through selling after Wednesday’s slide, or whether bargain hunters show up near recent lows. Cost lines and realized steel prices will likely do most of the talking into the next update.
But the setup cuts both ways. If steel prices do not firm as hoped — or if auto volumes soften and costs stay sticky — earnings and cash flow could disappoint again, and the stock can re-rate quickly in either direction.
